Standards and Rarities
At Glimmerglass

By

Heidi Waleson

Updated Aug. 7, 2001 12:01 a.m. ET

Cooperstown, N.Y.

This summer's splendid production of Britten's "The Rape of Lucretia" (1946), at the Glimmerglass Opera, is what the company does best: a rarely performed work mounted with a top-notch cast and a compelling production. The opera is a challenge for producers and audiences alike, and the company explored its many levels with care. Christian commentary is integrated into the basic story of Roman rectitude, in which the chaste Lucretia, raped by the Etruscan prince Tarquinius, kills herself from...